I was brought up in the stories about the canal from dad.
He told me, the Grand Canal in China is more than 2500 years old.
It looked like a drawn bow at first and then was straightened as an express way running north and south in olden days.
The emperors Kangxi and Qianlong used to travel all the way south along the canal from Beijing to Hangzhou. I wish to embark on such a journey too and meet my dad.